Central banks think the US has become riskier. They plan to sell dollars and buy gold

By Hanna Ziady, CNN

London (CNN) — More central banks plan to cut their dollar holdings than increase them over the next decade for the first time, according to a global survey, reflecting a rise in political risk associated with the US currency.

The findings come amid a Middle East war partly started by the United States, which upended global energy markets, and as US President Donald Trump looks for new ways to enact tariffs, highlighting America’s increasingly unpredictable foreign policy agenda.

The survey, published Tuesday, was carried out by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), an independent research group headquartered in London. It was conducted between March and May, and includes responses from 74 central banks around the world.

It is the first time the survey has found a desire to decrease dollar allocations overtaking the intention to increase them since it started recording central banks’ investment intentions in 2023.

The findings represent the latest indication of a global shift away from the dollar, often referred to as “de-dollarization,” which entails a reduction in the use of greenbacks in global trade and financial transactions, reducing demand for the currency and its value. The share of US dollars in central banks’ foreign exchange reserves fell to a two-decade low last year, according to JPMorgan.

“This year, geopolitics has overtaken the US political environment in discouraging investment in the dollar, reflecting the perceived role of the US in elevating geopolitical risk,” the OMFIF report found.

It noted, however, that the dollar “still dominates portfolios and is expected to do so for the foreseeable future.” The dollar has remained at around 58% of central banks’ allocations over the past five years, OMFIF head of research Andrea Correa told CNN.

Still, a “gradual” de-dollarization is seeing central banks move towards the euro and the renminbi, according to the report. Nearly all central banks surveyed think the renminbi provides diversification, while two-thirds said the euro had become more attractive for use in global trade, up from 43% last year. Twenty-nine percent of respondents indicated a desire to increase euro holdings in the long term, up from 22% last year.

Euro-denominated international debt reached record levels in 2025 and the euro became the leading currency in green bonds, said Karsten Stroborn, director general of markets at Germany’s central bank, writing in the report.

Demand for alternative currencies, including the Singapore dollar, South Korean won and South African rand, is also growing.

Meanwhile, the rise in geopolitical risk is driving up demand for gold. A record share of central banks said they plan to increase investments in gold, even as prices have surged more than 20% from a year ago.

The shift has been “driven by protection against geopolitical risk and growing doubts about the stability of the international monetary system,” the report found.

Gold “has moved to the centre” of strategies to manage countries’ asset pools, it added. Some 51% of central banks cited protection against geopolitical risk, up 11% from 2024.

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